The Siren's Breath
by Moonlight Memories
Summary: So Alex messes up a spell. What's new? She turns into a siren and accidentally invokes the siren's curse on Justin, and to stop the pain, he has to sleep with girls. Wait. What? Jalex
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the fic that I said I'd write.

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_Her glance is that of the fabled basilisk, her voice a siren's voice—with her voice she enchants, with her beauty she deprives of reason—voice and sight alike deal destruction and death_

– _Cornelius A Lapide_

…

* * *

"_Sirena Espinoza," _Alex says, waiting for herself to grow gills and a long, scaly tail. Nothing happens.

"That was weird… _Sirena Espinoza" _she repeats, waiting for herself to change into a beautiful mermaid. Again, nothing happens. She touches her legs, just to make sure. Nope, no tail there, just a pair of long legs. Not that she really minds or anything, but are they slightly longer than usual? She examines them again. Nope. She touches her ears. No gills there. They feel slightly different, but Alex puts it down to her imagination.

She must have pronounced the wrong spell. Ah well, at least it did not cause a huge catastrophe _this_ time. Oh dear, she hopes that she hasn't jinxed that.

The scent of the sea drifts to her nostrils. It is intoxicating. She had always wanted to learn how to swim. She cannot quite remember why, though. She knows that it has something to do with Justin comparing her to the sea; wild, unpredictable, greedy but beautiful.

Beautiful.

She closes her eyes, breathing in the salty scent. The waves lick her feet.

She stands up, walks towards the sea and dances in the ankle deep water. Her eyes are still closed as she opens her mouth to sing softly. For one second, everything feels perfect.

"Alex!" she hears. She tries to tune out the gruff, familiar voice.

"Alex?" she hears someone else say. It's a voice of a man who is much younger than the first. With that single word, he captures her soul. This is the person that she belongs to.

"Justin," she acknowledges, paying no heed to her father.

She opens her eyes slowly, the way a bashful bride unveils herself. The second she does so, reality comes crashing back in, and she regrets it, because this is her brother that she's talking about, but he looks so perfectly kissable that she doesn't care anymore. She starts to take a step towards him, conscious of the way his eyes fall all over her, not knowing where to stop.

Wait. Not knowing where to stop? That isn't like Justin. She ignores the thought because he is looking at her.

He's blushing as she steps towards him. Their eyes meet, enveloping each other in a silent promise. For the time being, no one else exists.

"Alex!" Jerry calls out, interrupting the moment. Justin's eyes widen, as though he is surprised that she is Alex. Couldn't he recognise her? No, it must be the shame. She feels it burn her too. She glances at her father. He does not seems as though he has noticed that he just interrupted a very intimate moment between two of his eldest children. It's all for the best, she tells herself. She glances at Justin. He's looking away from her, a look of disgust stretched onto his face. That's for the best too, she tells herself, although her heart flops to one side like a dying duck and she badly wants to... no, she really can't go there.

Her father's eyes scan across her, making her squirm.

"What did you do to yourself?" he asks worriedly.

"Nothing," she replies. It's not technically true, but the spell did fail, so she did not successfully do anything to herself, not really. He couldn't tell just from looking at her, could he?

"Your eyes are purple," Justin spits out, still not looking at her.

"Oh," she says, suddenly worried. "Is the spell slow working?" she asks, backing away into the water just in case she suddenly turned into a mermaid and suffocated on land.

"What spell?" Jerry asks, nervous. "The shape shifting spell?"

"Shape shifting spell?" Alex asks, curious. Then, it clicks. "Yeah," she confirms. "It's the spell that turns people into mermaids. I'm so sorry, daddy, I just wanted to swim in the-" She doesn't get very far because he interrupts her.

"The spell that shifts people into mermaids?" Jerry asks, frowning. "Where did you find it?"

"It's in one of the spellbooks."

"Do you remember which one?" Jerry asks.

Alex nods and starts to say the name (she did do the research, after all). However, it is Justin that replies to their father's question.

"It's the thick green one, entitled 'Advanced Shapeshifting',"he says. He closes his eyes, pointing at the air, trying to think of something. "Page—page-"

Goodness, did he remember the exact page? She is guilty of the same thing, to be honest, but it's just that one spell.

"Pages 379 and 380," Alex informs them.

Jerry stares at her. "Have you even tried out the spell before?" he asks.

"Of course not, she's Alex!" Justin remarks drily. He still hasn't looked at her. "That's why she got the spell wrong. Your eyes are supposed to turn blue. Your tail is supposed to grow within five seconds, and your gills are supposed to come out within ten."

"So my eyes are purple. Big deal," Alex answers. It is a rather big deal, actually. She'd desired purple eyes since she tried them out at the mall, but she wasn't going to save for purple contacts. There were so many pretty things to buy!

"It's not just your eyes," Jerry says.

Alex reaches out for her wand to conjure up a mirror.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to create a mirror," she replies. "_Mi-_"

"Alex, your eyes are purple, your body has pretty much changed completely, your face looks slightly different. I don't think magic is your strong suit. Let's wait until we get home. You can look in the mirror then," Jerry said. He stared at her again. "You didn't do this on purpose, did you?"

"Trying to change into a mermaid?"

"No, changing yourself… nevermind. Let's go home."

"It's just _Sereia Espinoza_," Justin remarks contemptuously. "How did you get it wrong? Oh wait, you're Alex!" he continues, finally shooting a glance in her direction to gloat. She starts to glare at him, but the second he eyes her, he blushes and turns away again.

"Sereia?" she asks, knowing that she had mispronounced the spell. Dread began to sink into her.

"Is something wrong?" she asks.

"You," he replies without thinking. "You're what's wrong."

Alex felt the tears begin to form in her eyes. "I wish you weren't my brother!" she yells. If he wasn't her brother, she could confess to him. If he liked her too, they could go out. If he didn't like her, she could get over it. The way things are, she is doomed to stay in love with him.

"Shut up," he replies, uncommunicative. He wasn't even retaliating.

'Why should _I_ shut up? _S_hut up!"

Justin didn't answer. Somehow, it makes her even angrier than before. As he continues to keep quiet, anger pounded through her veins. Before she knew it, it had built up to the point that she was about to explode.

Then she blacks out.

The next thing she knoww, Justin's arms are around her. His face is flushed. He is saying something that she can't hear. He repeats himself. She read his lips carefully. He seems to be asking her if she was okay.

She pulls herself away from him, knowing that he can't bear to be around her just then.

She opens her mouth to say something. To her surprise, nothing comes out. She coughs, forcing her vocal cords to move. She means to say that she's fine, but the only thing that comes out of her mouth is a few high pitched syllables that have no meaning. She shuts her mouth, coughs again, and then tries again. What comes out is a song without words, immersing Justin in the beautiful song. She tries to close her mouth, but her body refuses to obey her. She had never known that her vocal cords could produce this sound. What was that song, anyway? Didn't all songs have words?

Justin starts coughing, trying to breathe.

Whatever is coming out of her mouth, it seems to be suffocating him.

He's starting to turn blue. She grabs her throat, trying to stop. Her father seems as though he is in a trance. Then, before her minor panic became a full-blown panic, she stops. Thank goodness.

Her father shakes his head, trying to clear it. She squats down to hold onto Justin, wondering what she did to him. She holds on just a little tighter than necessary. He does have the most amazing lips, the ones that Alex is forever trying to avoid. He has just managed to catch his breath again, and now he's staring into her eyes. He's embracing her with his eyes. The breath hitches in her throat while they indulge in this non-existent embrace.

"_Alex_," he says, as though she's all he ever wanted.

She'd be happy if the world ended right now.

"Is Justin alright?" Jerry asks worriedly. "What did you do to him?"

"I don't know," Alex replies. This time, she truly doesn't know. Justin is looking away again, looking at everything but her.

"Let's just go home," Jerry says.

* * *

Alex could almost swear that every single man in the substation was looking at her as she walked down to the lair. Awkward… some of them were way older than her. She reaches out for the book again, trying to figure out what she had turned into. Then, suddenly realising that she had to look at herself, she turns to face the mirror.

Wow.

What had she done to herself? Her eyes _are_ purple. Where had all those curves emerged from? Her face even looked a little different. She had always been pretty, but with her eyes just a little bigger than before, her ears curved just like _that_, she looked… wow. Even her hair had become longer, she realises, as she removes her hair ties. At least it looked shinier and smoother than ever before. However, she wishes it hadn't become so ridiculously straight.(*like the one in the 'Baby Cupid' episode, except longer)

Still. Wow.

She can totally see what Justin was staring at.

Quickly, she flips through the book, happy that all the spells were listed in alphabetical order.

"Come on," she whispers to herself. "Sirena Espinoza, Sirena Espinoza"

Behind her, she hears Justin's brief footsteps. They sound heavier than usual-she had almost thought that they were her father's footsteps.

"Alex," he calls out. She smiles and beckons to him.

"I found it," she exclaims excitedly.

"Found what?" he asks, blushing.

Why is he blushing all the time? Her eyes fall on the mirror again. _Oh._

He'd never love her the way she wants him to. This was just lust over the new body she had gotten. It was still better than nothing.

"The spell. See, I said _Sirena Espinoza_ instead of _Sereia Espinoza_," she admits.

"You said what? That's the spell that turns you into a siren!" he called out, horrified. "No wonder I was so-"

"So now all I have to do is to find a counter spe-"

They are too close for either of them to breathe. "_Alex_," he says/moans. She reaches out to touch him. Before her hand hits him, he cries out in pain. She hurries to try and comfort him.

"Call Juliet!" he cries out, embarrassed.

"Wait, why call Juliet?''

"Just call her!" Justin screamed, grateful that it was already night.

Alex rushes to call Justin's girlfriend. She almost drops the phone in the excitement. No, excitement is not the word. Fear, perhaps. Her brother is groaning in pain and somehow, even in this situation, she thinks it's hot. The phone won't go through.

"Is she picking up yet?" he asks, almost crying. As he says these words, she does. Alex tells her to come over immediately. Justin's moans are in the background and she has no idea what Juliet is thinking, but the vampire agrees to come down.

"What's happening?" she asks worriedly.

He tries his best to explain through the pain. Funny. There are so many useless spells for shapeshifting and for changing books into mustard, but not one spell that can kill pain. Well, if it existed, she doesn't know the spell. She ransacks her mind for a word which rhymes with pain.

"Do you know what a siren is?" he asks through his pain. "It's one of those beautiful women who sing to sailors and kill them," he manages to say." They can lure away all manner of man." She'd like to ask him what manners have to do with anything, but she can't, not in this atmosphere.

"_I'd like to keep my brother sane, so take away this horrible pain_," she says.

"Thanks," he says, although she can tell that it still hurts. It doesn't seem to hurt as much, though. "It's on page 33 of the green spellbook," he says.

She practically pulls the spellbook of the table and flips the pages. Then it hits her cold. She must have invoked the siren's curse. She flips to the next page, rushing to find a spell.

It is then that she truly panics.

There is none.

None that he would accept, anyway. He seems to hate what he feels for her, so could she really force him into bed with her while she was still a siren? They didn't even know how long the spell would last.

She continues reading. It lists other ways to relieve his pain, if only temporarily. He could actually sleep with any girl for this one, which was probably why he called Juliet. Her heart aches. It burns her, shreds her, destroys her. She wipes away the tears. Apparently, all girls have some "Siren's breath", which could help ease the pain. However, after a while, this would lose its potency and the victim would have to move on to another girl. Alternatively, the book listed something called the "true Siren's breath". It went on to tell her how her magic would clash with this and eventually be destroyed, but printed, in fine detail, the way a wizard-turned-siren could master this.

"Don't bother mastering the siren's breath. Juliet will be enough."

Juliet does come rather quickly, and with her help, they manage to drop Justin into bed.

She lies on her warm bed, feeling the cold chill of loneliness.

She's never felt so horrible.

* * *

A/N: Yays! I finally managed this! So, what do you guys think? Continue or just drop it and focus on other fics? **Rating will probably change, because it's this story.**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: here is the second chapter! yay! Much thanks to the person who beta-ed this chapter, S. F Card!

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She tries not to cry, wishing that she had the courage to wave her wand and make all the sounds disappear. However, she knows that her imagination would only torture her more. She hugs herself, consoling herself with thoughts of his eyes and the way they seemed to speak to her. Now they were probably looking at Juliet in the same way.

"Oh, Justin!" Juliet moans.

Alex closes her eyes, telling herself that it was sweat and not tears that were freefalling down her face and onto her neck. She hears Justin groan Juliet's name. They needed to have a thicker wall.

"_I do not want to weep, so put me to sleep_," she whispers. Then, she falls into a dreamless sleep, her hand still wrapped around her wand.

* * *

Justin feels strangely empty as they completed the act. He had always known that Juliet wasn't a virgin, but that was no reason to feel so… empty… in the heat of the act. Wasn't sex supposed to be blindingly perfect and breathtaking? Why did he keep thinking of his little sister, of the way she had looked at him while they were on the beach? Why did he keep thinking of her full lips, her slim, curvaceous body? Why did he keep hearing her laughter inside his head?

It's because she is now a siren, he tells himself. He refuses to think about the way he liked her before she became a siren.

Maybe it _was_ because his partner wasn't a virgin. He wonders what it's like to push Alex onto his bed, strip her of her-

No, he can't think like that.

He closes his eyes. Soon, sleep envelops him like a warm blanket.

When he awakens, Juliet's no longer there. Then again, she is a vampire and all that. She can't exactly stay with him until the sun comes up and watch the lovely sunrise. He stares out the window. The sunrise is beautiful and he wants to share it with someone. He doesn't care who.

He finds himself in Alex's room. Stealthily, he creeps into her room and sits on her bed. He feels like some filthy pervert. It doesn't help that he can remember the dream he had- right down to the last dirty detail. In it, Alex is dancing with him. It's a dance that would've put any dirty dance he'd ever seen to shame. Then for some reason they're naked, but he doesn't think much of it because it's a dream, and then… well, that's too incestuous to think about, and for this moment he's glad he's not on Disney.

He watches the sunrise from her window. It doesn't face the same way, but it's close enough.

"Justin?" Alex asks.

Instantly, he jumps up. He stares at her, trying to come up with an excuse.

"I'm sorry, Justin," she says. She hasn't moved a muscle but she can see that her eyes are becoming really shiny, as though she's about to cry. The first thing that jumps to mind is to comfort her, telling her that it's not her fault.

It _is_ her fault though, and he wants nothing more than to blackmail her into- no, he shouldn't.

So his sister was a siren. So he was enormously attracted to her. Big deal.

Yeah, right.

"Won't you..?" she starts to say. Her voice cracks a little as she tries to finish her sentence. "Won't you forgive me?" she asks. Little rivers of tears are falling down her face. Quickly, she covers her face with her hands.

It breaks his heart. Even though he's attracted to her new siren body, she is still his sister and he loves her. And no, he does not mean that in an incestuous way. He's always been jealous of her for stealing their parent's attention, but he does love his little sister in the way big brothers should.

"I've already forgiven you," he replies. And he has. She's his baby sister and nothing she does to him could ever cause him to stay angry with her for more than two hours. However, he does have to avoid her for a couple of days while he tries to take control of his hormones.

"You're such a dork," she tells him, and he blushes.

"I'm not," he protests.

She looks at him meaningfully. "You play with dolls."

"They're action figures!"

"What are you going to do?" she asks, nervously.

"About my action figures?" he asks, confused. He's rubbing his stomach and she wonders if he's hungry.

"No. About Juliet. And… and the pain I caused you. The book said that the amount of siren's breath would decrease with every time you… umm… get intimate with her,, right? After a while she won't be any use to you."

He is wincing in pain now. She grabs the phone, about to call Juliet when she realises that it's morning.

Dimly, she recalls the way she's supposed to master the siren's breath.

"Lie down," she commands. He looks uncomfortable, blushes and then does as she says. She crawls down and leans over him. Then, she forces herself to sing as softly as she can, breathing in a concentrated line. He breathes in her breath. It starts to turn blue. Her breath, that is. It's become a beautiful neon blue. Even as she does this, she can feel her magic being drained from her veins. It feels horrible, as though someone had ripped her veins out from the inside and twisted them around a fork. It's helping , though, so she doesn't care. Her breath is not supposed to be neon blue, it's supposed to be a deep midnight blue, but it seems to help ease his pain a little, so who cares?

She waits until his eyes close, then stops. She feels horribly weak and she wants to cry again.

"Alex? Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yes," she replies, unwilling to cause him any guilt. Eventually, she will become a siren. She'd rather be a wizard, though. She goes back into her original pose and forces her body to force out more of the siren's breath.

"It's intoxicating," he murmurs. He's not sure what he's talking about-the siren's breath or his sister's body.

Her body hurts as horribly now. Her flesh is erupting like a volcano. It hurts. Damn, it hurts. Her body feels so weak that she's about to faint, so she gently pries herself off him and pretends that it doesn't hurt and doesn't feel weak. He's important to her, and it's not her fault that he needs this from her.

Besides, it's better than letting him have sex with Juliet. At least it doesn't hurt half as much.

"Let's go for ice-cream," she says randomly.

"Before breakfast?" he asks.

"It's spring break, it doesn't matter. Mum will scold us, that's it. Let's go, because my body is burning."

"Okay," he replies, feeling a bit guilty.

They walk together. Alex attracts a lot of male attention. He thanks every divine being in the world that she was a) fully dressed and b) not singing one of her siren songs. Soon, a small crowd begins to gather behind her. Justin can't help pulling her a little closer and wanting to protect her.

"Help me," she mumbles. She should be happy about all the attention she's receiving, but it's really creepy and he is her big brother.

"Okay," he replies, staring at the old men.

She smiles brightly and thanks him with a quick peck on the cheek. He pretends that it doesn't burn him.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asks, nervous.

"Kiss me," she says.

"Okay," he starts to say. Then, the words sink in. "Wait, what?!"

"Are you going to help me or not?" she asks. He stares at the big crowd behind. Then he stares at his sister. She's really scared and he is her older brother, so no matter what, he has to help her. Even if it means that he has to kiss her. Besides, it's not like he's going to enjoy it… much…

So he kisses her.

He is totally unprepared for the kiss. It's hot, it's hungry, it's passionate. Their arms slide around each other lazily and he's trying his hardest to pull her closer even though it's impossible. Unless he does the spell that helps… people… go through things. It's really hard to think when you're having the best kiss of your life. When it's over, they're clinging onto each other, seeing stars.

Justin Russo kissed his sister… and he liked it.

There are still some guys around them, but they keep a nice distance. If they hadn't, Justin would definitely use magic to tortu- make them stay away from his sister. She's leaning into his embrace, and he has one arm thrown around her.

It feels good.

They've reached the ice-cream stand.

She's in the mood for chocolate. So she points to the chocolate ice-cream, thankful that the owner is a woman and not a siren-crazy man. Justin stands around, her, trying to hide her. She smiles. The woman hands the ice-cream over to her. She likes too feel the hint of coldness within the cone. Justin is still standing around, doing nothing. She pokes him. He stares at her, annoyed.

"Aren't you going to pay?" she asks.

"Not this time," he states smugly.

"I didn't bring any money," she tells him, batting her eyelashes at him. He blushes. She's always had her own way of wrapping him around her little finger. This is a new one, though. He can't really bring himself to complain.

She licks the ice-cream slowly, sensuously. Actually, she could be taking great big bites of it and it's still look sensuous. And not just because of the way she licks her lips, which, admittedly, is really sexy.

He tries to stifle the moan that forms in his throat.

What is she trying to do with that ice-cream? He looks away uncomfortably. She is too gorgeous and sexual for her own good.

He hungers for her.

* * *

She's pretending to sleep. It'd be a lot easier if he just left already. She's starting to feel a little uncomfortable under his gaze. He walks up to her and her skin burns at his proximity. Tenderly, he kisses her forehead. She forces herself to remain still, to continue to breathe deeply.

The clock ticks away.

It's probably about two am. She had to rush into bed when she heard his footsteps.

Her body is tense, weak. She hates the feeling but she needs to master the stupid siren's breath, so there is nothing for it.

He is whispering a silent charm. She manages to distinguish some of the syllables. It's probably a spell that creates barriers. He must still be worried about her, she supposes. The crowd following her was pretty impressive, after all. He whispers good night and walks back to his room. She lies still until she hears his door shut with a click.

She sits up in her bed. Every muscle hurts.

She forces herself onto the floor, pushes herself into the right position and tries to master the siren's breath. The colour that comes out is navy blue. It's not quite the right colour, but it's better than the neon colour before. Her body lurches forward. She's thankful that he walls are soft and fluffy because it won't wake Justin up… hopefully. She tries to force herself upright, but it doesn't seem to work.

She has probably reached her limit.

She tries to reach out for her wand and somehow get herself to the bed, but she can't. Her body just won't obey her. Worse still, her magic seems to have been destroyed. It hurts. Damn, it hurts.

The water running down her face? She hates to admit it, but they're tears.

Her magic means everything to her.

Unfortunately, Justin is even more important than that.

* * *

A/N: That's chapter 2. Leave me a review and tell me how you found it, if you can:) Pleases and thank yous!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Warning, warning. The below may contain spelling errors, T rated stuff and more. You were warned. Yes, I'm lame. That's not the point, though. There should be some errors in this, but I promised myself I'd update if the review count went to 20 before I was done, so here you are. The newer version will replace this eventually. I think.

* * *

Justin reaches out to open the bathroom door. However, there appears to be some sounds coming out of it. He places his ears against the door. There was a faint swishing sound, then water fell pitter patter onto more water. Someone was taking a bath. Who on earth was taking a bath at three o'clock in the morning?

Oh. Right. He is taking a bath too.

His situation is slightly different though. He had just come home from a huge party. If anybody cares to know, he was dragged there against his will. While there, the pains started to develop, so he decided to sleep with the girl who was throwing herself at him. Her name was Megan. Megan something. It didn't really matter. It was likely that they'd never see each other again. He closed his eyes, wishing that Juliet hadn't moved away. Still, it's not like they could have been together forever, live happily ever after. Every girl only had a certain amount of siren's breath, after all. Besides, she was a vampire.

She was his first, though.

Impatiently, he paces around the door.

"I can do it," he hears Alex say. Why is Alex taking a bath at this hour? Alex's voice is full of pain. She lets out a sob.

Something is very wrong.

He can imagine it now, her shoulders heaving with the violence of her sobs, her face set in a beautiful determined line that's somehow tragic beyond words. What is she doling, anyway?

"I can do this," she's saying in between sobs. There is a squeaky sliding noise. She seems to have slipped.

Justin isn't thinking when he turns the door knob to check if his little sister is fine. She's nude. He's not quite sure why this fact surprises him as much as it does. People tend to have to remove their clothes to take a bath.

"Are you alright?" he asks, embarrassed.

Hearing his voice, she cups her hands and draws water from the bathtub. Then, she brings it to her face. For some reason, he thinks that she's going to drink it. However, with one fluid motion, she throws it onto her face. The water falls and erases her tears. She has always hated to cry in front of him. He doesn't quite know why, but he thinks that it makes her seem weak; vulnerable. She doesn't like to let him see that side of her. If and when she turns to him for comfort, she hardly ever cries. She just hugs him, shoulders shaking. That is why that simple action doesn't really surprise him at all. However, it's what she does next that truly surprises him. Her hands just fall limply to her sides. She doesn't turn to acknowledge him. She doesn't say a word. She just sits there, motionless. He knows that her eyes are open, so what is she doing? These thoughts cause his heart to thud heavily. What's wrong with his sister?

"Alex?" he asks uncertainly.

"Justin," she finally acknowledges. She sounds so tired, as though she hadn't slept in days.

"Alex, what's wrong?" he asks, allowing his panic to consume him.

"It's nothing," she replies. As she speaks, a faint blue puff of air slides across her lips, dances its way into the air and disappears.

"_Alex_," he says, finally understanding the situation. He lets his eyes run across her body quickly, careful not to let them rest on any particular area. Not that it truly matters. Everything important is hidden under the water. At first glance, her body is completely relaxed. However, there's something about the way her fingers are curling that tells him that her body is completely tense.

He knows the signs well.

Her fingers finally curl around her wand and she tries to levitate herself. Nothing happens. This time, it's the correct spell, but nothing is happening. A hollow laughter builds up in her throat.

Even though she's splashed water on her face, he can clearly see the small river of tears sliding down her face. Besides, it's not exactly easy to mistake the way her shoulders are shaking for anything else.

"Alex," he says again. He doesn't quite know what he can say. He puts his arms around her. His clothes are getting wet, but who cares?

"Justin," she murmurs. "I'm sorry."

_She's _sorry? He should be the one who is sorry. He should have seen the signs. He shouldn't have let this happen to her.

"I'm sorry," she says again. "I'm so sorry."

"Alex, it's okay," he tells her. However, she keeps repeating that she's sorry. It breaks his heart to see her like this. It scares him, too, because Alex hardly ever parts with her apologies, so he's convinced that something is dreadfully wrong. "It's okay. Shhh…" he continues. It is almost as if he were speaking to a small child.

"Are you done bathing?" he asks carefully. He has to be very, very careful about this situation, he tells himself.

She nods, still saying that she's sorry. It irritates him because it's not completely her fault that they're in this situation. He had his part to play as well. He hates seeing her like this. She should just have let him die.

He pulls the plug from the bathtub and plants a small kiss on her forehead. She does not respond. Not that he expected her to.

He is slightly mesmerised but the way the water swirls downwards, revealing his sister's body.

She's so beautiful that it kills him.

She starts shivering slightly. He grabs a towel and throws it over her form.

"Hold on, I'll go get some clothes from your room," he mumbles. She does not reply. He's a little uncomfortable about the topic of her underwear drawer, to be honest. Still, he merely has to take one look at her and his heart swells in pity. She has pushed herself to her limit. He doubts that she can actually move at the moment. He'd have to carry her. For once, he wishes that she was lighter.

He forces herself to look at her clothes and picks out some pyjamas and underwear. He's not really picky, it just has to cover enough of her.

Then, he makes his way back to her. He is very worried.

"I'm back," he says.

She doesn't lift up her head to glance at him, but she does make a small, almost unnoticeable nod.

"Can you dress yourself?" he asks, even though the answer is obvious.

Perhaps she knows it too, which could be why she isn't saying anything.

"I'll dress you," he says, not leaving any room for her to complain. He goes out and gets a plastic chair. He has serious doubts about this, but he can't just leave her there. Who knows when she'd be able to get out of there by herself? She can't even move!

He places the chair in the bathroom in an awkward angle. Then, he places the rather wet towel on the sink and picks her up carefully.

It takes a while to seat her on the chair. Firstly, she's really heavy. Secondly, when he finally manages to lift her and carry her towards the chair, the silly chair shifted itself every time he bumped into it. Thirdly, he's straining really hard not to look at her. He curses under his breath. It's the first time he's done so, but it's oddly relaxing.

By the time he finally gets her on the chair, he's wet too. It doesn't really matter. He's going to take a bath later, anyway.

He tries not to look at her body as he dries her off with a towel. It's hard, though. Her body is so well developed that it invites his gaze. He looks away quickly each time he finds himself staring.

He looks over her shoulder as the towel goes lower. It can't be helped, he tells himself.

He bends her body at an angle to clean her back. He places one arm in front to make sure that she doesn't fall. Her breasts touch his arm and it may be sinful, but he enjoys the feeling. Still, he shifts his arm a little lower and wipes her back, then wipes the part of the chair that's wet.

He strains not to look at what she has between her legs as he dries off her legs quickly. He's not going to wipe anything else. That's just wrong.

Not that what he's currently doing isn't wrong.

He stares at the clothing he has brought for her. Which one should go first? A soft snore interrupts his thoughts. He glances at her. It's not the most comfortable place to fall asleep in, but at least she's asleep. He can't resist kissing her gently on the lips. He almost expects her to wake up, as though she were a fairytale princess and he were a prince. She stays asleep.

Well, he isn't Prince Charming, he's just the princess's dorky brother. It's no surprise that his kiss yields nothing.

She is a princess though. She's Sleeping Beauty, kissed but unawakened.

Still, if only… Unbidden, the memory of their kiss rushes back to him. In his head, he's kissing her again, a kiss that's driving him insane.

He shakes his head and turns back to her clothes. He should really have asked their mum to dress her. Then again, their mum would be horribly freaked out and he really didn't fancy explaining to her the reasons for Sleeping Beauty's current inability to move her body. She had already suffered a huge shock when Alex came home with an utterly different body.

He kind of liked doing this for her, anyhow.

The bra should go on first, he decides. The thing is, he's taken off loads of bras in the last couple of weeks, but he's never put them on before. He shrugs. It can't be too hard. He gently slides her arms into the straps and pulls them closer to her body. He pulls at them so that they'd cover her breasts.

His hand accidentally brushes against her breast. Instinctively, he cups it, then quickly drops his hand, thankful that his sister was sleeping so soundly. Then, he fiddles with the clasp for what seems like forever before it finally snaps shut.

Oddly, he feels a sense of accomplishment.

He grabs her panties and tries to ease them up her legs, wondering what his parents would say if they saw him now. They'd probably think that he wanted to sleep with her and had somehow used magic on her to ensure her compliance or to make her fall into such a deep sleep.

The thought sends shivers down his spine. It's tempting; too tempting.

He lifts her a little, then somehow manages to help her put it on without touching anything.

"Justin?" Alex asks uncertainly. She must have woken up.

"What is it?' he asks. He's so focused on trying to slide her hands into the pyjama top that he doesn't notice the uncertainty in her voice.

When he's done, he notices that she's blushing. She seems to want to say something, tell him off. "Thanks," she says instead, then tries to sleep again.

He smiles, having completely forgotten how wrong this was. He fits her ankles into her pyjama bottoms, then continue to pull them up to cover her skin. He lifts her, then somehow manages to get them on her.

"That feels nice," she murmurs.

He can't stop the heat from rushing to his face.

"Warm," she adds.

He smiles. He carries her up to her room, wishing she were lighter but not daring to say anything. Her eyes stare right into his.

He carefully places her into bed. He frees all the trapped hands and pulls a blanket over her body.

"Justin?" Alex says again.

"What is it?" he asks, feeling warm.

"You can sleep with me if you like," she mumbles.

"I'm sorry?" he says, sure that he hadn't heard right.

"You can sleep with me if you like. I don't want your body to hurt."

"That's disgusting, Alex," he replies, trying to arrange disgust on his face. In reality, all he really wants to do is to jump into bed with her and-

No, he won't go there. She's his little sister.

"Good night, Alex," he murmurs.

The walk towards the bathroom had never seemed so difficult.

* * *

A/N: I know that Alex isn't completely in character, but I will do my best to get her there... AFTER The Siren's Breath is completed. Sorry! I'd like to say a huge "Thank you!" to everyone who has reviewed. I'd be really happy if I got more, but I'm not complaining or anything. You guys are awesome. If you guys have any constructive criticism, fire away. I'll do my best to make my fics better, but I'd really like your help:)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I believe some of you misunderstood me. I did not say this story is completed, I said I'd work on Alex character after the story was completed. Which is a few chapters off. Oh, and I said this chapter was going to be posted tomorrow, but I couldn't resist;) Enjoy!

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Alex lies in bed, blushing. She remembers the way her brother had touched her body the day before while he was trying to help her get dressed. Of course, at the time, she was only half awake.

It would be so much easier if they just slept together, she muses.

Her muscles hurt. Her magic is… she doesn't want to think about it. It's like all her magic is placed in an hourglass, and every time she tries to practice the siren's breath, the glass is flipped, and it won't be long before all of it is on the other side.

If they slept together, she no longer has to strain herself. He no longer has to suffer that horrible pain. Everybody wins.

She lifts her hand and stares at the beautiful, long fingers and elegant shape of her hand. She's a siren, isn't she? She is supposed to be irresistible. She wonders if she's equally irresistible to her brother. A memory floats back into her head. It's the one of the way he looked at her while they were on the beach.

He wanted her. He definitely wanted her.

She walks towards the door, turns the cold knob and closes it. Then, she takes four long steps and finds herself in front of Justin's door.

Their rooms are way too close together.

She knocks on the wood. The sound that the wood makes as her arm hits it is rather faint. There is no response. She shrugs. Oh well, she has already tried to do it the polite way. Now, she will do it her normal way. She just turns the doorknob and walks into her brother's room.

Justin is asleep. Then again, it is midnight.

She places the beautiful hand on his arm. Only then does she realise that he isn't asleep. His face is full of pain.

"Justin?" she asks, worried.

Her only reply is a hiss of pain.

Gently, she climbs up onto his bed, crawls above him and tells him to lie down flat. He shakes his head, as though he really doesn't want her help. Finding your sister utterly helpless tends to do that to a person. So she ignores him. He's always been more important then her. To her, anyway.

She focuses on singing softly, creating the siren's breath and is not very surprised when the breath that comes out is really close to the midnight blue that she expects. She has been practicing, after all. Still, the breath that comes out of her lips is coming out in little blue clouds.

"You don't have to," Justin mumbles, but already he is leaning closer.

She forces more and more out of her body. The blue breath becomes a steady dark blue stream.

She looks at her brother. He is gulping down mouthfuls of the blue air that's coming out of her lips. It's watching like a drowning man who has been thrown a life preserver. She feels good. He looks as though it doesn't hurt any longer.

She wondered how the breath tasted like.

It probably tastes pretty good, she thinks, as Justin is starting to smile in a very creepy way.

Not that she minds or anything.

He's staring into her eyes again. She'd never have guessed that one gaze could convey this much. Lust. Delight. Promises. All these things are in his eyes as they gaze at each other. He's looking at her with those eyes again. She breathes deeply. She can feel the sides of her lips lift and become a smile. He is smiling, too. He lifts up a hand and brushes away a lock of her hair. He slides it behind her ear and presses his fingers to her face. He doesn't seem to believe that she's real. One of his hands wrap themselves around her hand.

Then, with infinite care, he leans up and closest the distance between their lips.

It is a chaste kiss. At the end of it, he comes to his senses and starts blushing really hard. She is blushing too.

"I'm sorry," Justin says.

"It's okay," she murmurs, blushing. She collects herself and gets off his bed.

"You should go to bed."

"No thanks. I'll wait until you fall asleep, then I'll wake Max up and we'll pull pranks on you," she replies.

"Why are you being so honest?"

"You'll be asleep soon, so I don't care," Alex answers. "If all fails, I'll cast a memory spell."

"You shouldn't use magic-"

"-recklessly. Blah blah blah. I know."

Justin smiled. "Am I rubbing off on you?" he asked sleepily. He yawns.

"You wish," Alex replies, grinning.

She wonders what she can say at this juncture. So Justin, I need you to sleep with me. I know you're my brother, but I don't want you to sleep with other girls anymore… besides, I don't like hearing you scream in pain and I don't want to master the siren's breath anymore. Nope, she couldn't see that going well.

She'd have to be a little sneakier. He was too nice, he wouldn't sleep with her just to cure himself of all the pain.

Sneaky plan, sneaky plan.

Oh, she just got one. She will make use of the way Justin found her. If she says that she's horrified by the loss of magic and all that pain, he might take pity on her and actually let her do it with him. She would do it for him. And partly for herself, of course. She does want to do it with him, actually. Siren breath or not.

It's so wrong, and she's supposed to love him. Lust takes over sometimes, though.

"J-Justin…" she starts to say, willing herself to break down for a while. She's practiced at this, so she does. All those times she's lied to people and manipulated them have started to become rather useful.

"What is it, Alex?" he asks, his protective instincts flaring instantly.

"Justin," she moans. "It hurts."

"What hurts?" he asks, looking around them, as though the invisible culprit was among them.

"It hurts, Justin," she says again, conscious of the way her shoulders are shaking.

"What hurts?" he asks, panicking.

"It's the Siren's breath," she murmurs. "It's taking away all my magical ability! I'm a wizard, aren't I?" she asks, looking into his eyes. Worry and fear flooded his eyes as he nodded.

"So why can't I perform a spell?" she asked, gazing at her wand as though it would give her the answers that she sought after. "Why?"

"Calm down, Alex," Justin finds himself saying. "You just have to stop practicing the Siren's breath."

Alex smiles weakly, feeling the need to roll her eyes. "I can't. I'm not going to let you die or anything. You're my brother. You're important to me and I just can't let you die. You're more important than that."

"Alex," Justin murmurs, feeling guilty.

"But my magic is important too," she mumbles. "It's important too."

"Alex," Justin whispers, wishing he knew what to say.

Finally, she lets her shoulders drop. "Magic is my life."

And it was. He is just a little bit more important than that, though. That is what made all the difference in the world.

Justin gets out of bed, walks towards her and envelops her into a tight hug. It's one of those brotherly ones, but they bring along so many of the unknown emotions and start to burn her completely.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs.

She shakes her head and sobs into his chest, those great wracking sobs that yield no tears. She _is_ a good actress. A fantastic one. She doesn't really care whether or not she dies, whether or not her magic leaves her completely.

Alright, on to her next line.

"It's really starting to hurt," she whispers. "I wish the pain could just go away."

"I'm sorry," Justin repeats.

"Justin," she says, as though the idea has only just popped into her mind. She's a great actress like that. "Justin, would you sleep with me?"

"What?" he asks. She can almost see the shock written on his face. However, he doesn't let go off her.

"Don't you see? It'd be the perfect solution!" she exclaims with all the conviction of someone who has no other option. He pulls away from her embrace to stare into her eyes. He's trying to will some sense into her. This much, she knows.

"If we do that, I won't have to suffer anymore. You wouldn't have to suffer either!" she yells. As loudly as she dares to yell, anyway.

He looks away. "That's disgusting," he murmurs, swallowing. "It's incestuous."

"I'd rather lose my virginity, sleep with you a couple of times. I don't want to lose my magic, Justin! I'm a wizard, I can't live without magic."

She tears up.

"You're going to have to. You might not win the competition, you know," Justin replies. However, seeing her like this, he makes a mental note to give her his powers if he won it. Her shoulders are still shaking and she's looking at him as though she's gone crazy. He supposes that she has. It's magic, and magic is everything to her.

"Justin, I won it once, I'll win again," she reminds him.

"I won't let you win this time," he replies.

"You let me?" she asks, narrowing her eyes.

"No, of course not," he says quickly. He's not half as good at lying as she is. She doesn't seem to care.

"But Justin, even if that's true, I still want to keep my powers," she murmurs. "Let's have sex."

"It's disgusting, Alex!" he yells. "Just let me die," he murmurs. "I don't mind," he continues.

"I can't do that! Even if you don't mind, I do! You're important to me! You're way more important than anything else."

That's right, he tells himself. They are family.

"So you think we should sleep together?" he asks, angry.

The tears fall down her face before she knows what's happening. These are real tears. She's always wanted to be with him. Always. No matter who she was with, she had always wishes that his face would magically appear in theirs. No matter who she thought of, their faces eventually shifted and changed into that of his.

Justin looks at Alex, horrified by her tears. She hardly ever cries in front of him. He's reminded of the bathroom incident. He remembers that sad, hollow laughter that she had.

He remembers her blank brown eyes, remembers how she needed his help to dress. He remembers the tears.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, he tells himself.

He's not really going to violate her, he tells himself. She is the one who wants this. He does, too. She's begging him. She's crying in front of him. Magic had always been ridiculously important to Alex. He and Max used it for a bit of laughter and convenience occasionally, but magic was everything to his little sister. If he doesn't agree to it, she might kill herself. She looks crazy enough to try. On the other hand, however is he ever going to face her again?

The tears are running small rivers down her face.

"Let's sleep together," he murmurs.

* * *

A/N: Yay! Dramatic moment! Sort of. Review? XD


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Much apologies if I disappoint you guys with this um… scene. It's my third time writing these things. It isn't as good as Midnight Desire, I'm afraid. Feel free to skip this, it's M rated. I know I promised some of you a summary, but I forgot. Sorry. I don't mind making up a summary if you guys review/pm me.

**Warning, warning: Unclean material ahead.

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**

"Justin," Alex says, eyes shining. "Thank you."

Justin's heart starts to thud for no reason. It's because she is a siren, he tells himself. She is too beautiful, way too beautiful. That's the only reason why he wants this. It's insane. It's just… god… she's so breathtaking that it's natural, right? It should be natural to want to strip her completely, push her onto his bed and push himself into her, watch her face as she's under him and-

Only because she is a siren.

He wonders if he can somehow push her out of his room to catch his breath. For some reason, the air-conditioner doesn't seem to be working. He can still hear the whirling sounds, thus it must be working.

So why is it so hot?

"Alex," he says uncertainly.

"Don't be such a dork," she murmurs, crushing her lips to his. When her tongue slides against his lips, he opens his mouth. Not because he wants to. He was just… caught off guard. Yes, that's it.

"Do you want to skip the-" He can't really make himself say the word foreplay, not in front of her, of all people.

"Don't," she replies. "This is going to be awkward enough without the foreplay."

Apparently, she knows him as well as he thinks she does.

The way his tongue is rubbing against hers? That's obviously because it feels good. Why wouldn't it feel good? She tastes so delicious and before that little voice in his head began to interrupt him, he had utterly forgotten that it's his little sister he's kissing. Little sisters really shouldn't be so tempting. Besides, it's not like it really matters. They are going to do more- much, much more- in a couple of minutes, so it shouldn't matter in the least.

She's going to be his.

Where had that stupid thought come from? It's just an exchange.

He pretends that the feeling deep in his heart isn't sadness. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. No one really needs to know.

They break the kiss. She's planting soft kisses from his lips to… well, who knows? More importantly, who cares? His body is burning at her touch. It's because she's a siren. It's definitely because she's a siren, because he can't possibly feel this way for his beautiful baby sister.

She is biting his neck. He can't stop the moan that crawls out of his throat. It's painful and delightful at the same time.

He can't stop himself from touching the edge of the nightgown, letting his fingers graze the skin of her thighs.

Why is he being so excited? The other girls had done nothing for him, but _her_. Just the way she was looking at him was enough to set his blood on fire.

"I l-"he starts to say. Had he been about to say that he loved her? He doesn't even mean to say it, it just slips out. Sex was one thing-they were forced into it, after all- but love? This whole thing was wrong on so many levels. Why was he feeling like this? No, he calms himself. This is a side effect of her spell. She's a siren. It's natural. It's totally natural.

Except he can't quite convince himself anymore, not when she hooks a finger into his pants and draws him closer.

"_Justin_," she murmurs, as though he's all she had ever wanted. He allows himself to lose himself in her eyes. She's so beautiful. For a while, the eyes that he's looking into aren't purple, but a deep chocolate brown. Her voice isn't that of a siren's. The girl he's looking at is his sister, but he wants her all the same.

He'd hate himself if he could.

All his thoughts are stripped away in their next kiss. It's hot, it delicious. He never wants it to end. Something makes him pull back a little, but she merely closes the gap with her lips. His head spins. It's a dizzy feeling, but so good that he wouldn't care if the house fell down. He kisses back roughly.

Without warning, his hands are sliding across her body. Her body is hot too. It just fuels his want.

God, why is she so _beautiful_?

He helps her out of her nightgown, breathing hard as he looks at her skin.

Flawless.

He touches her skin tentatively, looking into her face for signs of approval. She nods.

It's as smooth as it looks.

He sucks on her collarbone, feeling proud when he hears her moan in desire. Her fingers dance across his skin. His breath is ragged, ragged the way it should have been with Juliet and shouldn't be with Alex.

He licks her collarbone, then slides his tongue downwards, leaving a trail of saliva onto her bra. Her body is shuddering. She reaches out and pulls him towards her, eyes filled with desire. He practically rips off his pyjama top. Her own tongue mimics his action. She allows her tongue to start at his collarbone, then with small, slow licks, she makes her way to his nipples. _Oh god_. How does she do that thing? It burns.

She takes his nipple between her teeth and rubs it by moving her mouth gently. The sensation drives him insane.

"_Alex_," he moans. His head is filled with nothing but her.

Her warm fingers slide under his pants, touching everything. He grows hard under her touch.

She kisses him again.

Somehow, she manages to get his pants off without taking her face away from his. The air on his exposed legs freezes him. So he wraps them around her body, stealing away her heat.

The way his legs slides across her smooth skin makes him ache for her.

"Now, to get rid of everything else in the way," she whispers against his lips. God, he wants her.

Wait. What?

"Alex," he murmurs, a little uncertain and very turned on.

"It's okay, Justin," she whispers in reply. Her mouth has moved to his neck and her hot breath is on his neck. It's not the reply that he wants but it is the reply that he needs. His sweaty palms creep over her shoulders, her neck, and every part of her that will soon belong to him.

She is his.

He takes off her bra with ease. He kisses the spot between her breasts. He hears her moan and he realises that he's never felt so alive, so great.

This is the feeling he expected with Juliet.

He takes her breast in his mouth, his tongue toys with her nipples as she grabs his hair roughly, unable to do anything but _feel_.

He's sweating profusely.

"_Justin_," she cries out, then uses her hand to stifle the sound. It goes against everything he believes in, but this is exactly how he fantasised taking a girl and it's so perfect that he's going insane with all the pleasure. It's wrong; completely wrong, completely taboo, but he'd be damned if he didn't enjoy this delicious feeling.

He finds his hands around her underwear, his fingers sliding in the sides.

Suddenly, everything dawns on him at once- their touches, their kisses, their clothes(or the lack of it), what they're about to do, Alex. Especially Alex.

"Alex," he murmurs. "Are you sure?"

He watches her squirm a little. Something akin to annoyance flashes in her eyes.

"Yes," she replies. She holds onto his hands and assists him in getting rid of the offending piece of clothing. His mouth goes dry as he looks at her. He slides the thing off her long legs.

Alex looks at him shyly, waiting for him to make a move.

He's pretty astounded by her. A thousand things run through his mind as he slides a finger into her. She moans.

She's wet.

He looks at her. She's looking away.

"You're still wearing something," Alex mumbles.

"So help me out of it," Justin replies. He hadn't meant to say that, but heck, it doesn't really matter.

Alex moves her hand to his boxers, touches him there. She looks at him with all the curiosity of a teenaged hormone-filled girl, except he's her brother and this should be utterly wrong but for some reason, they're fantastic at this and they're killing each other with every touch, every kiss, every bite, every lick.

Slowly, sensuously, she takes it off him, never once taking her eyes off his. Slowly, she runs her tongue across her bottom lip, drawing his gaze.

The cool air makes him harden more than before.

Before she removes them completely, she dips her head and licks the tip of his penis. It almost aches. He wants to slide into her, make her his, no matter how much he knows that they're not supposed to.

She laps at him with quick, anxious licks. He moans and nearly comes right there and then because the feeling is intoxicating. It's getting a little too hard to breathe but he doesn't care because this is worth it, Alex is worth it. While they're doing all this, Alex's left hand is easing off those annoying boxers of his.

When she's done, he pushes her down onto his bed. His leg was caught at the edge of the bed, so it hurts a little, but she's so beautiful that he doesn't really feel the pain.

"Are you ready?" he asks.

She doesn't reply. She merely closes her eyes and scrunches her face. She's preparing herself for this, he realises.

The blood is pounding in his ear and he really wants her, wants her so much that he doesn't care if he goes to hell for this because he knows that it'd be perfection itself.

She places her hand on his penis, then guides him into her. She squirms under him, tears falling down her face.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs, brushing away her tears.

"I'll be fine," she replies.

He tries to find to spot that Juliet mentioned once, looking carefully at Alex's face for the signs.

It takes another 3 minutes or so before he finds it. Her eyes are wide, her head digging further into the pillow, her mouth wide open. Her hips arch into his.

"Justin!" she cries. So _that_'s his name.

He smiles, then begins to establish a rhythm. Every time he touches that spot, she has the same expression. It must feel pretty good.

"Faster," she manages to say.

He loves her.

He's starting to see a glorious white light in his head. It swallows everything else, so the only thing that Justin can feel is Alex's body under his. It's incredible.

"Alex!" he yells, as the blinding light feels his entirety. He knows that it's just an exchange, that this is wrong, but it's so fantastic that he doesn't care. This is what he has been dreaming of the whole time.

This is not sex. It's the meeting of souls.

"Justin!" she screams as she nears her own orgasm.

They scream each other's name at once. He almost expected his parents to wake up, but none of them did. Instead, he lay in her arms, still throbbing within her.

He loves her.

He... does? No, it must be the spell.

"Oh my god! I think some of my powers are back!" Alex exclaims. "Oh, sorry, I ruined the whole moment,"she continues, staring into his confused face.

Did she love him? The answer was probably no. He wonders why he feels so hurt at the revelation. He gets off her slowly, then mutters a quick spell to clean his sheets, wondering why he is doing so.

What did he just _do_?

* * *

A/N: All is not well, but it'll have to play out like this.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This is the final chapter. Go ahead, strangle me for this horrible final chapter, but read the story first.

* * *

"How many more times?" he asks.

"The spellbook said seven times, so that's six more times."

"Oh," Justin replies.

"What's wrong?" she asks, letting playful kisses trace his jawline.

"Just finish the stupid thing," he replies.

Would Alex love him? Could she? For the moment, that is all that he wants. Evidently, her magic was more important, though.

Alex feels her face fall. Was it her imagination? It felt as though he loved her. She doesn't even mean that in a sisterly way.

"We're siblings," Justin says.

Newsflash, mister: Siblings wouldn't do this. She doesn't say that, though. She doesn't tell him that if it were Max who was cursed, she wouldn't have done this for him.

It's simple, really simple: She is in love with him.

"Do you want to say the memory spell?" Alex asks after they are finished with the seven times. She looks drained. She is drained.

Justin stiffens. He closes his eyes and considers the possibilities. He doesn't have to remember what he's said. He doesn't have to remember what he has felt. He doesn't have to remember the ache in his heart.

"Okay," Justin murmurs.

She stares at him for a long moment. Neither of them speak.

"Well, it'd better not be the mass memory wipe. Try ' This last hour has not filled me with glee, so take away my memory' or something, because you're not taking away _my _memory."

"What?" Justin starts to ask. However, he realises that Alex is no longer in his room.

He's tempted to go through with the spell. Tempted is too mild a word. However, reason prevails. There may be some repercussions due to their use (or lack thereof) of a condom, and he's certainly not going to let Alex suffer the consequences alone. Or so he tells himself.

In fact, he should really have remembered to put it on before they even had sex for the first time, but seriously, he had pretty much forgotten his very _name_ until Alex shouted it, so the use of a condom wasn't exactly the first thing on his mind.

He hugs a pillow. It's the one Alex was lying on, and it's full of Alex's scent.

He hates to admit it, but the truth is, he really doesn't want to forget. He doesn't want to erase his memory because he can't erase the traces of her all around him. He can't erase the impact she's left in his mind and he doesn't want to go crazy wondering. Or so he tells himself.

So he closes his eyes.

Soon, sleep consumes him. Everything is black.  


* * *

When he wakes up, it's because someone (Alex) has tossed a big bucket of water over him. There's a smile over her face as she points to a particular potion on a book and asks him if it's the correct one for changing back into a human being. He wants to kill her, and his eyes must have implied the same thing, but she cheerfully reminds him that their father has asked him to help her with this.

She smiles innocently as she mentions that she's only making sure she doesn't do the wrong spell twice.

He smiles back coldly, not at all amused.

What is with her? Why is she acting as if what happened the night before hadn't happened.

Then he remembers. To her, he's completely forgotten everything. She might even have said the memory spell for herself.

"Ingest means drink," he tells her.

"I know. I'm not dad," she replies, smiling. "I'm not going to make a fool of myself, like you did."

"I did not!" he forces himself to say.

It's a sibling rivalry thing, and the familiarity makes his heart ache.

She skips out of his room, presumably to create the potion. She looks too happy. Something in his heart aches for her to show some evidence of memory. He wants her to feel affected by this. He wants to go up to her and shake her by the shoulders, shouting in her face. And then, he'll ask, in a small voice, if she felt anything. Anything at all. She has to feel something. It's not fair that he's the only one being affected by this. That isn't going to go over well, though, so he settles for sitting in his bed and choosing the clothes that he'd wear, crumpling them with his firm grip.

Maybe it's better if he never acknowledged this incident. She's going to turn herself back into a human being, so he's not going to feel that horrible attraction for her any longer. If he's honest with himself, he'd do it all over again, given a second chance. He wanted her then, and he still does.

He dresses himself slowly, remembering how it felt like to dress her.

He definitely made the right choice.

By the time he had gotten himself dressed for breakfast, Alex had changed herself back from an enormously beautiful, seductive siren into a beautiful human girl whom he still wanted.

God, was this some kind of horrible side effect?

However, there are no side effects: he knows. He's the smart one, after all.

So yeah, this time, it is weird that he wants to carry her up to his room as though she's his bride. It's weird that he wants to kiss her over and over again. It's weird that she wants to push her down onto his bed and strip her and get inside her and make her feel as good as he possibly can. It's weird that he wants to make her his, not once but twice, thrice, as many times as he can.

It's not as weird to know that he wants to hold her and kiss away her tears. That is what big brothers do, wasn't it?

Okay, it is still weird. Kiss away her tears? It sounds like some sappy movie, and he can totally see how they eventually end up in his bed.

It's so weird and disgusting that he can't stand himself.

When his hands touch hers while they're reaching for seconds, he sees her hesitate for a second before she manipulates her way into the last piece of chicken. He knows he should get angry with her, or at least pretend, to keep up the façade, but he merely sinks back into his seat, wondering if anyone had seen him shudder when their hands touch. He looks at all of them, especially Harper. She is his stalker, after all. It's only when his eyes meet Alex's that he realises that she's the only one who saw, and she knows.

Her eyes are accusing. They burn tiny holes into him. He shakes his head, signaling that they should pretend that nothing had happened.

The problem is, something had happened, and it won't be too long before everyone else found out.

He has to solve this with Alex before one or both of them explodes.

"Alex," he says as he coughs out everything that's in his mouth. "Can I talk to you about what you've just put into my mouth?" he asks, pointing to his salad. Of course, she's done nothing to his salad. Not that he knows of, anyway. This is about the other things that she's put in his mouth, the ones that were put in his mouth the night before.

Usually, he likes salads and wouldn't sacrifice it over something silly, but this is just slightly more important than vegetables.

"Oh, honey," Theresa starts to say, trying to console Justin. Jerry opens his mouth to speak.

"It's okay, dad, I'll deal with this," Justin says, preempting his father. He looks at his sister. She's just sitting quietly on her chair. It reminds him too much of the bathroom incident. He grabs her hand and begins to pull her upstairs, into his room where he can cast a silencing spell.

"Are you sure?" Jerry asks.

Justin nods. Alex has won so many times that it's natural for their father to be worried. Besides, there's the whole siren's curse thing.

Later, Justin will tell his family that he and Alex managed to create a potion to cure it, but that the siren in Alex destroyed the paper on which they had written the recipe.

It's not the most believable story, but with the help of a 'I'll believe anything' potion conveniently slipped into their food, it would probably work. By the time he's done telling them, they'd digest the information, believe it and slide it far, far end of their minds. Hopefully.

He casts the silencing spell.

"Alex," he says, not sure of what they were supposed to talk about but very sure that there was a topic.

She does not reply. His stomach drops.

"Alex," he tries again.

"I did it to save you, alright?!" she screams, then looks shocked at her own confession.

"What?" he asks, shocked. "No, you did it for your magic. Don't blame it on me."

Her shoulders straighten. "Yes, that's it," she says.

At that he's not very sure if she's lying, but if it's not for her magic, why did she do it? Alex has always wanted to save herself for her Prince Charming.

He doesn't blame her. She is, after all, a Princess.

"_Some are evil, some are kind_," he starts to say. He doesn't approve of using magic unsupervised, but this is important.

"No, wait!"

"_-but now all must speak their mind_," he finishes.

"Oh, no! The truth spell! Now Justin's going to find out that the only reason why I slept with him was to save him!" Alex practically yelled.

"What? How could you do that?" Justin asked. "I love you, I don't want you to hurt yourself over me!"

"You love me?" Alex asks incredulously.

"N- I can't say no," Justin complained.

"You love me," Alex repeated, smiling.

"Way to focus on the real issue," Justin huffs. Alex presses a kiss on his cheek.

"I love you, too."

"Alex, what I did was wrong, but then we had an excuse. What we're doing now is worse. I will never forgive myself, and you shouldn't ever forgive me either."

"I've already forgiven you, to quote you," Alex says, smiling. "Not that there's much to forgive. I love you, Justin."

"Alex, this is crazy. Don't you care about magic? Wizards and non-wizards can't... so…"

"Justin," Alex says, laughing. She grabs him by the shoulders to still him. "Do you remember what mum and dad told us? Wizards can be with non-wizards, they just can't marry non-wizards. Look at us. We can't get married or anything, so what's the difference?" she asks. "Besides, you're more important. I'd sacrifice my magic for you any day."

She presses her lips to his. It's electrifying. His mind goes back to the night before, to a not-so-innocent kiss in this very room. This time he's not under a spell. Neither is she. So he has no excuse when he kisses back, no excuse at all.

Justin Russo kissed his sister, and they both liked it.

"You'll always be my siren," Justin says, looking deeply into her eyes.

"That's so cheesy!" Alex exclaims, laughing.

"You've ruined the whole moment," Justin says, frowning.

"Who cares?" she asks. "You ruin moments all the time," she tells him. Their lips meet again.

Yes, Alex thinks. This is definitely the person she belongs to.

* * *

A/N: In case you're wondering, the last line is a reference to a line in the first chapter, where Alex hears Justin's voice and thinks ' With that single word, he captures her soul. This is the person that she belongs to'.

Yay! The story's done! I probably won't be writing any multi-chaptered fics for a while. School, you see. Do look forward to some one-shots, though. If I can manage them.


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